Six-member panel formed to probe leopard death in Tata Zoo

Jamshedpur: Two days after a leopard at the Tata Steel Zoological Park drowned when heavy rain lashed the Steel City, regional conservator of forest, Jamshedpur, constituted a six-member panel to probe into the death. It will be headed by divisional forest officer, Chaibasa, Satyam Kumar.
Regional conservator of forest Mamta Priyadarshi on Tuesday said that a notice to the zoo management has also been issued to explain what safety measures was in place for the animals in the light of the flooding in the zoo due to the incessant rain on Friday and Saturday. The zoo management has to reply in two days.
Further, Priyadarshi said that the probe team would visit the zoo on August 25 for physical inspection and verification of the safety measures. The panel will submit its report by August 27.
"We have been told that the leopard died of drowning into the flood water in the zoo. We will have to see how the aged leopard got into the flood water and what safety measures were in place," said Priyadarshi, who is also DFO, Jamshedpur.
On Sunday, Tata Steel in its press release said that the 17-year-old male leopard died while swimming through the flood water.
Other than Kumar, the probe panel has five members — Chaibasa-Porahat division DFO, Nitish Kumar; assistant conservator of forest, Seraikela-Kharsawan, Pramod Kumar; district veterinary officer, Surendra Kumar; veterinary officer of Baharagora, Rajesh Kumar Singh; and Bio Diversity, Head of Tata Steel, Hishmi Jamil Husain.
“The purpose of putting two veterinary doctors and a bio diversity expert in the panel is to have a thorough examination from all angles,” Priyadarshi said.